[News] Virginia Senator is worried that Venezuela has ties with terrorists
News at freedomarchives.org
News at freedomarchives.org
Thu Jul 15 19:03:54 EDT 2004
Response to Allen is below.
US Senator George Allen from Virginia tells VHeadline's Elio Cequea he is
deeply worried over the relationship that Chavez has with regional
terrorist groups
<http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22033>http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22033
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 19:25:23 +0000
From: <mailto:senator_allen at allen.senate.gov>senator_allen at allen.senategov
To: Elio Cequea
Subject: A response from Senator George Allen
Dear Mr. Cequea: <http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=21973>Thank you
for contacting me regarding the political situation in Venezuela. I
appreciate your concerns and value the opportunity to respond.
2f6fad.jpg
Since the election of President Hugo Chavez in 1998, Venezuela has
undergone enormous political changes, with a new constitution and revamped
political institutions. President Chavez has seen his popularity slowly
erode due to his ineffectiveness in improving the living conditions of 80%
of its 23 million citizens that live in poverty.
As you may know, President Chavez resigned on April 12, 2002, under
pressure from the military, but was ultimately restored to power two days
later. From early December 2002 until February 2003, the opposition
orchestrated a strike against Chavez, hoping to pressure him into
resigning. According to reports, some 35,000 workers walked out of the
State oil monopoly PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela Sociedad Anonima), thus
slowing oil production to a mere trickle. However, the strike was
unsuccessful in getting President Chavez to agree to an early non-binding
referendum on his rule or new elections.
In addition, I am deeply worried over the relationship that Chavez has with
regional terrorist groups. According to the State Department, the
Venezuelan Army reported that more than 700 combatants of the Marxist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had established camps in the
western border states.
Moreover, Chavez continues to throw caution to the wind with his close ties
to Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein. I am pleased at the ongoing
negotiations between Venezuela and the Organization of American States
(OAS). On May 29, 2003, the Chavez Administration and opposition leaders
signed an agreement to end violence and make President Chavez subject to a
possible recall vote after his midway point in office, August 19, 2003.
It is important that we continue to put pressure on Chavez to hold a
referendum on his rule through international observers to safeguard
political and civil liberties. Furthermore, the "group of friends of
Venezuela" that includes ministers from Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal
must hold Chavez accountable so that he does not make any open-ended
promises to the people of Venezuela.
Moreover, we must closely monitor Chavez and increase intelligence
collection on his dealings with the FARC and Castro.
It is my sincere hope that by holding a referendum on Chavez's rule, the
people of Venezuela will be able to have their voices heard and will
resurrect Venezuela's prosperity of the past.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to
receive an e-mail newsletter about my initiatives to improve America,
please sign up on my website
<http://allen.senate.gov/>http://allen.senate.gov . It is an honor to serve
you in the United States Senate, and I look forward to working with you to
make Virginia and America a better place to live, learn, work and raise a
family.
With warm regards, I remain
Sincerely,
Senator George Allen
<mailto:senator_allen at allen.senate.gov>senator_allen at allen.senategov
VHeadline's Elio Cequea responds to US Senator George Allen's serious
allegations
<http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22034>http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22034
Dear Senator Allen: <http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22033>I want
to express my highest appreciation to you for finding time in your busy
schedule to answer my letter. The political situation in Venezuela is of
extreme importance not only to me but also to all my fellow citizens. I
would like to thank you for your personal interest in the situation ...
although, I personally believe that before committing to a serious search
for a solution, the first step should be getting the facts straight.
I respectfully have to tell you that, according to your letter, you have
not gone through that exercise.
President Chavez has indeed taken my country through enormous political
changes. He has been able to do so with the support of the people. That
support has been expressed in the form of victories in several referendae
... the Venezuelan people approved the new Constitution in one of those
referendae.
Right after that, a general Presidential election was called and the people
chose Hugo Chavez again as their President over other candidates of the
opposition. He has won two Presidential elections in six years and all the
referendums that he has personally promoted.
With regards to the "erosion of his popularity," the latest polls have him
as the winner of the Presidential Referendum ... even the polls sponsored
by the opposition have him in front by at least ten points.
Has he been ineffective improving the living conditions of the people? A
lot of Venezuelans do not think so. In a democracy, it is the people who
decide if a public official's performance is ineffective.
I do not know as a matter of fact if President Chavez resigned under
pressure from the military on April 12, 2002. I do know though that in most
civilized countries, "resigning under pressure from the military" is
another way to call the more familiar "military coup."
We both know that Chavez was restored to power two days later and, perhaps
you forgot to mention, a popular uprising asking for his return had a big
influence on that turn of events.
I got the impression that you support a coup or ... as President Bush puts
it ... a regime change in Venezuela. Your words regarding the PDVSA strike
are "considerate," to say the least. It is your prerogative if you just
want to have a "politically correct" position about an issue, but, in case
you are interested in having a position based on facts, these are very simple.
First, that was a strike promoted ONLY by the top management of the company
... a lot of people did not have any choice but to joint or get fired.
Second, they did not go on strike "hoping" to pressure Chavez into
resigning ... they were 100% sure the strike was going to help to throw him
out of office .. it was another coup attempt or, as you will put it,
"pressure from the civil society to resign."
Third, the intent of the strike was not to get President Chavez to agree to
an early non-binding referendum or new elections. You already mentioned
that they were hoping to pressure Chavez into "resigning."
As you can see, it is very easy to get things mixed up when our opinions
and thoughts are not based on fact.
Considering the recent official reports on the failures of intelligence on
Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction (WMD), I am puzzled by your
willingness to believe reports coming out from the US State Department.
* Did you believe Colin Powell when he went to the UN with pictures
showing Iraq's WMD?
Do you believe them (without a need for proof) that more than 700
combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had
established camps in the western border states of Venezuela?
If that was true, is it really an indication that Chavez has an on-going
relationship with them? Wouldn't you like to ask at least for a picture
this time? I would! It might save a lot of lives.
With all due respect, if I were you, I would not be too concerned with
Chavez' "close ties" with Fidel Castro ... George Bush's close ties with
Tony Blair have caused a lot more real trouble in the world already ... a
lot of innocent people have died because of the failures of their
corresponding intelligences.
The agreement signed on May 29, 2003, between the Chavez administration and
the leadership of the opposition was, among other things, to end violence.
There was no agreement about a recall vote against the President. The
agreement on that was to follow the legal steps that have always been
available under the <http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=6822>1999
Venezuelan Constitution: a referendum petition, the collection of
signatures, signature verification, etc., etc.
The referendum is not going to happen because Chavez is going to allow it
or not ... it will happen because, according to the independent electoral
authority (the CNE), there are enough signatures to call for one.
* You cannot pressure Chavez to produce signatures supporting a
Presidential referendum.
*
* You cannot put pressure on him either to push for a desired result.
Of course, I say all of this under the assumption that you are a firm
supporter of democracy regardless of if you like President Hugo Chavez or not.
I want to make a quick comment regarding the collected signatures. There
was a fraud. You probably heard about a lot of signatures that were
"invalidated" by the CNE.
Would you agree that if only one of those signatures was proven to be from
a person who was already dead, that that alone will be enough to prove
somebody's intent for fraud?
What if I tell you that more than 11,000 signatures were deducted from the
final count for that very "particular" reason?
In fact, there are more than 80,000 confirmed dead people that are still
registered as voters and the government is pushing for the records to be
updated before August 15.
The international observers present during the signature collection drive
did not help to safeguard "political and civil liberties". These dead
individuals who signed apparently "walked" in front of them in their way to
stamp their signatures on the referendum petition. President Hugo Chavez
cannot be "held accountable" if the opposition is defeated in the
referendum. An opposition victory in August 15 was not an open ended
promise to the people of Venezuela. In a democracy things like that depend
on the people.
In your letter you have expressed your desires for a closer monitoring on
the Venezuelan President and an increase in intelligence collection on his
dealings with the FARC and Castro. I encourage you to keep an open mind
about these "intelligence" reports. The Iraqi experience has shown us the
complete disregard of some people for lives of innocent human beings when
they are in pursue of their own interests. Some people in Washington D.C.
are more concerned with geo-political power and economic results than the
way their lack of intelligence affects others.
People in Venezuela will be able to have their voices heard in the upcoming
referendum ... the most important thing, though, is for that voice to be
heard all the way in Washington D.C.
It is interesting that you refer in your letter to "Venezuela's prosperity
of the past!" That is exactly one of the opposition "arguments" against
Hugo Chavez ... in Venezuela, "the past" is that period of time before
December 1998. Chavez won his first election that month, that year.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to
have access to a different view to that which you have been provided about
the situation in Venezuela, I would extend an invitation to visit
VHeadline.com at <http://www.vheadline.com/>http://www.vheadline.com/ It
is practically the only publication that is willing to publish opinions and
articles from both sides.
* I appreciate anything that you can do to at least spread the voice
about the existence of other "valid" opinions about Venezuela.
One of the defects of the "representative democracy" is that power belongs
to those who for whatever reason have somebody to represent them. Those
without representation always end up on the losing end.
The Venezuelan opposition has a lot of political power and influence in
high places ... the rest of the Venezuelan people and the government have
only their votes, and each other.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
Elio Cequea
<mailto:elio at vheadline.com>elio at vheadline.com
The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org
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